Chinese And US Governments Fighting Over Bitcoin? Here’s What We Know
A brand new technical report from China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) has revealed stunning particulars about one of many largest Bitcoin hacks in historical past, which factors to a hidden energy battle between China and the United States over $15 billion in Bitcoin. The stolen Bitcoin stayed untouched for 4 years, which blockchain consultants say is uncommon for typical hackers. Now, each China and the US are pointing fingers, with some analysts suggesting the US authorities may have secretly seized the coins.
China’s 2020 Bitcoin Hack Raises Questions About US Government Involvement
LuBian was a fast-growing Bitcoin mining pool launched in 2020, primarily working in China and Iran. In late December 2020, hackers attacked its system and stole over 90% of its Bitcoin, matching nearly precisely the 127,271 BTC later claimed by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
Soon after the theft, Chen Zhi, chairman of Prince Group in Cambodia, and his group despatched over 1,500 messages on the Bitcoin blockchain, embedded in small transactions, begging the hackers to return the funds and providing a ransom. The hackers by no means responded. The stolen Bitcoin remained in a single pockets from 2020 till mid-2024, an uncommon transfer, as most hackers transfer stolen cash shortly. Blockchain consultants say this conduct suggests a rigorously deliberate state-level operation.
Who Really Controls The 127,000 BTC?
In June 2024, the stolen Bitcoin lastly moved once more to new addresses, which well-known blockchain-tracking companies, together with Elliptic and Arkham Intelligence, have recognized as being underneath US authorities management. Then, on October 14, 2025, the US DOJ introduced that it had seized 127,000 Bitcoins from Chen Zhi and charged him with monetary crimes.
Chinese consultants, nonetheless, declare these are the identical cash stolen from LuBian in 2020, suggesting that the US authorities might have managed them years earlier. According to the CVERC report, the weird conduct of the stolen cash remaining dormant for 4 years means that potential state-level operations are actually intersecting with the DOJ’s authorized case in opposition to Chen.
Blockchain evaluation reveals that every one 25 Bitcoin wallet addresses talked about within the US DOJ indictment correspond to the addresses concerned within the 2020 hack. Only a tiny fraction of the stolen Bitcoin was ever moved earlier than 2024, highlighting the weird, state-level nature of the operation.
The report additional means that the US might have acquired the stolen funds lengthy earlier than saying the seizure, presumably even collaborating in or benefiting from the unique hack. Chinese analysts argue that this seems to be a “state-level double-cross”, the place one authorities used hacking instruments to grab digital assets underneath the quilt of regulation enforcement.
Meanwhile, the US DOJ has not defined the way it obtained Chen Zhi’s personal pockets keys or why these wallets precisely match the stolen LuBian funds, leaving the query of correct management unresolved.
